Track and Fieldwork: Remembering Dr. Tom Wood

Perhaps soil science doesn’t seem like the most fast-paced business in the world. But Dr. Tom Wood was no slow poke.

A tropical soil biologist from the UK, Wood devoted his career to tiny invertebrates, like termites, and their impact on nutrient cycles. But when he wasn’t playing with bugs in the dirt, he took to leaving a trail of dust on the field. Wood was a skilled runner; he participated in numerous long-distance competitions and won the South Australia Marathon Championship in 1972—just shy of qualifying for the Munich Olympics! Wood also ran in the first London Marathon, never losing sight of the finish line, or his scientific aspirations.

In other words, Dr. Wood had a secret life before there was a Secret Life (…of Scientists & Engineers on NOVA, that is).

Among Tom’s dirty endeavors was an agriculture project in Nigeria that would become crucial to the field of soil biodiversity. With colleagues, Wood revealed that termites play a central role in carbon processing—a discovery with huge implications for soil fertility and sustainable agriculture. Though always speedy, Tom was able to unveil this important discovery by taking time to stop and appreciate the little things in life…like termites.

Caitlin is a contributor to the Secret Life blog. She is also a student at Columbia Journalism School, completing her master’s degree in science journalism. Caitlin does not love all science equally; favorite topics of rumination include neuroscience, genetics, and evolutionary theory. Caitlin draws inspiration from James Watson and Rupaul Andre Charles.

This week, NASA announced that it will partner with the European Space Agency to send a 4,760-pound spacecraft into space to peer out over billions of galaxies in an effort to map and measure the universe. Its purpose: to investigate the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Original funding for "The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers" was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.